Bitwala, has announced that it has closed its latest funding round, raising €4 million from Earlybird and coparion to pioneer crypto-first banking in Germany and globally.

Now backed by a portfolio of investors such as N26, ShapeShift, and EyeEm. The two investors will join existing family of investors with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Digital Currency Group (DCG), and ALSTIN.

“This funding round reflects the investors’ trust in our unique product and team. This is an incredible endorsement of our hard work so far, and we are very excited about the opportunities this investment opens up. This funding round means we can further develop our product and build on our mission to bring crypto-friendly banking to the world, starting in Germany. I’m very proud that with our new product we will close the gap between crypto and traditional banking and solve one of the biggest hurdles on the road to mainstream adoption,” – Jörg von Minckwitz, President of Bitwala GmbH.

Bitwala has over the last few months been working hard with regulators and its partner bank to launch the he world’s first full crypto-friendly bank account. Merging banking and crypto has been a regulatory challenge which took some time, but Bitwala has managed to achieve it and is now in the final stages of development. Bitwala is now testing its infrastructure, trading systems, and product as well as squaring away the last tasks on the regulatory and legal side to pioneer a crypto-first banking in Germany, and globally.

Set to be the first in the world to launch a full banking experience, with deposit protection guarantee and built-in cryptocurrency trading, under a German license, Bitwala has signed up over 30,000 people on its waitlist for all-new Bitwala accounts and welcomed 12 new team members. Just before the partnership with a German bank to offer blockchain banking, the firm had grown its customer base to over 80,000 people.

“The background and experience of the team convinced us that Bitwala will allow everyone to engage with cryptocurrencies with all the comfort and security of their bank account,” Christian Nagel, partner at Earlybird venture capital.